A stock excuse for going out, when a character either doesn't want to give the true reason or is leaving not to return, is "I'm going to the store". In Manga, Anime and other Japanese media, the store in question is likely to be referred to as the konbini; i.e., the local convenience store open at practically all hours.

One reason this trope is a lot more prevalent in Japanese media is that they don't have a lot of space in their homes for storage, and convenience stores sell more kinds of things, so it happens more in Japan.

In the U.S., though, going to get cigarettes or milk or "the paper" is often a convenient excuse to get a character away from the others for a while, and as there are convenience stores that are open 24 hours a day, too, it's not a major expedition, so one character may go alone.

"Convenience Store" is a favoured song for making MAD movies, especially on Nico Nico Douga. Here is an Earthbound MAD.

Happens in the Fresh Pretty Cure! movie. For all four girls. So they can investigate odd goings on involving missing toys. Love's mom questions why all four have to go out at the same time for one little item.

Betelnut Beauty: Fei-fei, about to run away from home, claims she's going to the convenience store to get past her mother.

In Corrina, Corrina the titular character's husband left to the store to get cigarettes and never came back. The little girl, upon being told this, is afraid this might happen to her dad, who smokes.

Quartier Lointain (the film adaptation of A Distant Neighborhood): The protagonist's father says he's going out to buy some bread on the night of his 40th birthday, but in fact he is leaving never to return.

In Cinderella II: Dreams Come True, Anastasia tries to improvise a reason for visiting Dimitri the baker by grabbing some bread from the pantry, tossing it out the window, and telling Lady Tremaine that she has to go buy some more.

Same for Phoebe's dad for his 2nd family. He went to the drugstore 4 years ago, so he should be back any minute now.

It was a cliché in mysteries for a long time: "What really happened to your husband, Mrs Quigley?" "He went out to get cigarettes six years ago, but he never came back!"

iCarly uses this quite often. One of the more blatant examples is shoving Sam out to buy meat, so that Carly and Freddie can discuss the face he's not had a real First Kiss. Only for Sam to realise she has no money, and come back and overhear the conversation.

Seven's parents went to "get cigarettes". Al notices they used the excuse to leave town and leave Seven with them.

This was how Punky Brewster wound up living alone before being found at the beginning of the series. Her mom had gone to the store and never came back. In a slight twist, Punky and her dog were waiting outside the store instead of at home. The mystery of her mom's fate served as an occasional plot point for the rest of the series.

Ray Romano discussed how he would volunteer for chores if he needed to leave the house. These included stopping by the DMV or applying for jury duty.

Similarly, Louis CK has a story that starts: "Once, my wife sent me to the store to get toilet paper. Because we were out of toilet paper. Because I had thrown it all in the garbage so I could get out of the house."

Nelson's dad from The Simpsons went to the store a few years back and never came back. It is later revealed that he didn't intend to disappear, but he ate peanuts, causing him to puff up and get abducted by a circus passing by.

In The Fairly OddParents, Cosmo's mother didn't approve of his relationship with Wanda. To hide their marriage, Cosmo had to give her an excuse to leave. He told her he was going out to get milk. Cosmo and Wanda have been married for 10'000 years.

This is a Christmas Dead Horse Trope (or possibly a Dead Unicorn Trope) in Sweden. On Christmas Eve, the father in the family uses the excuse of "I'm going to the store to buy a newspaper" to sneak off and dress up as Santa Claus.

Played for laugh in a Christmas special where Santa ended his visits by going to the local store to tell all the dads they could go home now.

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